⚔ // stress in solitude

[discutio]

[Once Saturn had left, Ignis took a slow breath to steady himself before standing and speaking again.]

I think we have a fair amount of things to discuss, after that. But we'll also need to rest and recover here; We may be able to take it at Saturn's word that he won't alert Cyrus to us, but overstaying our welcome by more than a couple of days is unwise--that means we need to take advantage of this as much as we can.

[Strategy was easier. The words came naturally, and he was able to hold focus.]

If anyone needs me or wishes to assist, I'll be in the kitchen. I'm aware we just ate, but I presume we'll all be more comfortable if one of our own makes breakfast in the morning.

Comments

[discutio]

[Ignis had turned on his heel and left to find the kitchen immediately after speaking up, Hemera and Sonantis a step ahead of their trainer as usual. And true to his word that's exactly where he'd be; either carefully working out where everything was, or perhaps cutting vegetables a little harder than necessary.]

[ventulus]

[ He peeks into the kitchen. ]

You said you wouldn't mind some help?

[ Regardless of whether he will be of actual help or not, he does know the basics at least. ]

[anythingforyou]

[It takes a bit for Camilla to properly follow, really--this entire situation was dreadful, utterly dreadful, and the kitchen...it honestly does sound like a far better way to work out the stress than anything she might have in mind.

So, here, have a knock on the door, Ignis.]

Ignis, would you be opposed if I assisted you?

[perfectselfie]

I'll leave the kitchen things to you, but I'm going to work on getting some decorations ready. I'll feel better if I'm fiddling with those, honestly.

[divinedescendant]

[well emmeryn sure has a lot of concerns to do. better run down the list. GOTTA GO DO A CONCERN OVER IGNIS

this time her steps aren't carefully navigating over unfamiliar terrain but the confident clacking of her heels down the hall as she approaches. hell yes she is going to remain this fancy all evening THERE'S NO SAND TO RUIN HER NICE DRESS... SHE'S TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CHANCE]

Ignis? You had asked for assistance. I cannot say I am much good at cooking, but I can find things and follow directions well enough if I would not get in the way.

[hyruglyphics]

[ she was/is grateful for the combat lessons the other day assuming those will happen and because of that she does need to pay the man back. Especially in light of promises made today and stepping so much into his whole diplomacy. And the gods and such.

So.

Kitchen it is, and, ]

Allow me to be your eyes, Ignis. I'll locate whatever ingredient you need.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael raps on the kitchen door.] I'm not sure how much help I could be with cooking, but I do have a functioning set of eyes.

[He's not trying to be mean, he might've just worn out that new sympathy muscle of his]

[takestheblame]

You think you can handle cooking for everyone?

[Kiryu sure isn't going to leave a single person in charge of cooking for so many people! One person won't be enough for that]

I'm not a chef or anything like that, but I can lend you a hand if you want.

[heritrix]

[She'll join him a little later.]

It looks like you have plenty of helping hands, so I won't pitch in this time. [It's not like she eats breakfast anyways.] Besides, it's probably better to delegate hands throughout the rest of the day's meals. Since you're making breakfast, I'll volunteer to make tomorrow's lunch.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...he probably should say something, given that Ignis was one of the main movers and shakers out there... so he'll poke his head in, then.]

I do want to thank you for your work out there- well, yours and everyone else's. I'm not really much use in the kitchen, but is there something else I can do...?

[...ugh, he shouldn't really do this given his station, but...]

[hyruglyphics]

[ So Zelda has three major things she's doing here over the course of the night and the next day. She did kinda... you know, be herself all over that dinner meeting there, so you can confront her if you want at any of these points! First things first though,

1) Going to the kitchen to help out Ignis and whoever else shows up... probably.
2) Inquiring to the hotel staff about how much a room costs and how much the various dishes they ate cost and then aggressively tallying these numbers in her little notepad, perhaps frowning to herself as she does and muttering about the total. People who saw her in the Department Store in Veilstone will note she did the same there.
3) Sitting by the edge of the pool. It's a small pool, but it's pretty, and it reflects a large moon in the sky. It's not quite full, but perhaps fittingly, to her it feels like a bright night You might hear her muttering to herself, ]

The moon rises once again...

[ And then laughing to herself, as if at some private joke.

... Not that she's in the water, though the Lickitung beside her as its tongue in there, as if fishing.

... Or you just just wherever else? Girl's got to go back to a room to sleep eventually too. ]

edge of the pool;

[ventulus]

[ There's a bit of silence, but then there's the sound of ... hurried footsteps?

There's Ventus who ran out over to the section where there's a pool, when he got the chance and he puts a quick stop, almost falling in during his excitement. He'll soak his feet in a moment, but...

Then he turns to face her, looking at Zelda with a inquisitive expression. ]

The moon rises again?

pool

[bloodspent]

[You know what, Jake is here to get fucking soaked despite it being brisk as fuck out here, but he's not going to just do that while people are out here being pensive and Lickitung is...being...itself? So you know what, let's at least greet the girl and the tonguebeast.]

You seem like you're in an okay mood after all that.

[anythingforyou]

[Quite frankly, the sooner Camilla got out of that hideous place, the better. She couldn't stand the idea of just...sympathizing with that man's plight. He's an enemy. He's an enemy, he needs to be taken care of, and Camilla's just frustrated that it's not as black and white as she wants to think it is.

Whatever.

She'll be spending a good portion of her time assisting Ignis in the kitchen; Nohrian dishes have always had a preference for meat, berries, wheat and the like, and it's relatively simple to make things here that she's familiar with, she's found. It's familiar, in a way that most of this place hasn't been. She'll likely be making tarts, but she'll take any sort of request if asked.

Once she's done assisting Ignis in the kitchen, Camilla's spot of choice to be a moody brat in is the pool; she's got both of her partners out this time, and seems to have rolled a pair of pants she had up to her knees so she could dip her feet in. Glameow seems content to simply sit on her trainer's lap, but Deino rests on the little blanket Camilla made for him nearby. The cold water is nice, honestly, and she finds herself starting to lay down and look at the sky. It's...nice.]

The sky really is so beautiful, when there aren't all those dreadful clouds obscuring it...

[...She will, of course, likely pick out a room for herself once it starts getting really late, so if she needs to be bothered there, she can be.]

Pool

[takestheblame]

[A Magikarp comes by, swimming in the pool. Not too long afterwards, Kiryu appears, looks like he's following the fish]

It's the most beautiful skies I have seen in a long time. When you're in a city you can't see the sky so well.

Pool

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael's here too, just sort of lounging with his Pokemon. His tie's undone around his neck and his suit jacket's off; even poolside, that's about as undressed as he ever seems to get.]

It's weird not to recognize any of the stars, isn't it?

pool

[bloodspent]

[You know, literally getting cooled off after all of that sounds like a great idea, and even if it's a little brisk out for swimming, Jake doesn't really care and the most dangerous thing that's likely to be in the pool is Kiryu's fish. So you know what, he's got his shirt off and the knockoff adidas things on, and he's not going to just get in right away, particularly because Camilla is there, and...]

Hey, Camilla. Can I talk to you for a second?

[This is awkward already but he's gonna try discussing stuff, why not.]

[enjoymyatelier]

[well, that was a day and a half.

Kayneth knows he’ll be totally useless in the kitchen, and after that, he just... kinda wants to go outside for a while. He thought he’d had enough fresh air for two whole decades, but... well, it’s different if you know that you can head right back indoors to a bath and a soft bed if you want to. He’s not far from the restaurant, anyway. He’s brought one of the chairs outside and has basically resigned himself to hand-feeding his Pokémon, as he doesn’t particularly feel comfortable with doing that indoors yet. Like, someday, maybe. Maybe in his room. But not quite a restaurant.

Once they’re finished, he begins contemplating something. It’s something he’s wanted to try for the past few days, but... well. All that business with Saturn’s Pokemon brought it back to mind, so you know what? Why not. He sets a piece of paper on the ground, takes out some ink... and looks at his Frillish a bit skeptically.]

Do your tentacles count as feet, even? Would this even work with you?

[...The Frillish just kind of shrugs blankly.]

Hm. And I was curious if I could figure it out, since you seem to have more life to you right now...

[hyruglyphics]

Are you... attempting something, Kayneth?

[ what are you doing there with the Frillish and the paper? Still, she wanders over, having been in the middle of some other sort of note taking here, looking fairly quizzical. ]

[takestheblame]

Are you trying to get him to leave a footprint?

[Well that seems like an easy deduction, given the ink and the paper on the floor. What Kiryu can't guess is why Kayneth would want this]

[perfectselfie]

[True to her word, Aya has gotten down to work decorating in the dining area. Who knows where she found food coloring, but she has put it to good use with rainbow flower decorations, and kept the rest simple.]

...I wish I could post this online...

[niceoppai]

It definitely brings some life to the place! Not the kind of look I'm used to, but it's adorable.

[semistableman]

[Well, that sure was a lot of things that happened.

Bucky can be found, well... off by himself for the most part, staying away from people. It's not that he wants to be left alone-- well, actually. That's exactly it. He can be found in a corner, looking like he's had enough of everything. He has his head up against Flora, who is laying on the floor, as blank as always.]

What would you have done, Flor?

[The skiddo makes a noise that betrays no emotion, and the starly next to them doesn't make any noise at all.

Later on, he can be found in the room he's picked out for himself. The door is locked, but the light can be seen clearly under the door, and to anyone passing by, they will notice it never turns off.]

[discutio]

[It was a little while before Ignis showed up; obviously the light wasn't an indication to him, but he was willing to guess Bucky wasn't sleeping anytime soon.]

[Knock knock.]

It's just me. Could I come in?

[eudaimonikos]

[Well, that was all...a thing. Yep.

After the food prep is done, Michael spends most of the evening out by the pool. He seems entirely uninterested in the pool, but he's gone so far as to loosen his tie and drape his suit jacket over the back of the lounge chair he's sitting in. Cat Janet's laying by his feet, and Quaver's perched on the arm. For now he's focused on writing something in one of those little pads of hotel stationery. Looks like he's already gone through quite a few pages.

Eventually he'll go to claim a room, but he wanders the halls a bit first. Just to see where everyone else is bunking. It wouldn't do to spread the group out too far, of course.]

[hyruglyphics]

[ Well, I mean, she's been sitting by the pool too. Might as well ask, after a little while, ]

... Is what you are writing so intently private, Michael?

[ . . . Sue her, she's curious. ]

[takestheblame]

[The meeting with Saturn went relatively well. They got information, they got insight into Saturn, and Saturn promised to fight them to the best of his ability, and it's clear it's not out of malice.

Kiryu couldn't ask for anything else.

There's Kiryu to the side of the pool. His still unnamed Magikarp is with him, he's watching the fish swim from side to side of the pool. When someone he thinks would appreciate an apology approaches, he says:]

Sorry for my outburst back then. Guess I'm starting to get attached to these creatures.

[Otherwise:]

It's clear the guy on the top's the one we have to aim to defeat. If all the Commanders are like Saturn, then Cyrus' using them.

[The odds every Commander is in the same situation than Saturn is pretty low, but this does set a precedent about Cyrus not being afraid of hiding information and manipulating his subordinates to some extent. Not so different from yakuza heads, really]

[hyruglyphics]

It was all I could manage not to have my own outburst.

[ and she sort of did at the end, even if she gussied it up. But she responds with that gentle voice of hers, trying to sound ... you know, reassuring. She's got Miphanus the Beldum out of course, but also the Lickitung. ... Who might be trying to use its tongue to fish for the Magikarp. ]

[niceoppai]

[Chelsea can't help much in the kitchen, but at first, she'll be still at the supper table, watching her Munchlax eat up the leftovers. He doesn't seem to have any joy in it, but she's sure not stopping him.

Later, though, she'll start wandering the area, trying to climb down the hills because what is Rock Climb, and sitting on the steps puzzling out one of the books from back in Veilstone.]

"A Double Battle is the most common var... vararation? Variation on a Pokémon battle. A specific type is the Multi Battle, engaging four Trainers, but a Double Battle can also take place with one on one or two on one, so long as the Pokémon themselves compete two on two. A Triple Battle has more regulations..." [She leans back and sets down the book.] I gotta take a break.

[Finally, she'll claim a room (or house, rather, it's one of those hotels) and flop down right there with the door open and her partners out sitting on the floor.]

What a day...

[hyruglyphics]

I am pleased to see I am not the only one with a glutton alongside me.

[ She says somewhat sheepishly, remaining in the dining room as well, mostly to make sure her Lickitung is sated. It did go for more, but it was starting to try to eat silverware, so she had to put her away pretty quickly.